Speculative Fiction Links of the Week for January 28, 2022

It's time for the latest weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from around the web, this week with the Marvel Cinematic Universe in general, The Book of Boba Fett and Star Wars in general, the many iterations of Star Trek, Doctor Who past, present and future, Nightmare Alley, The Legend of Vox Machine, The King's Daughter, the various DC Comics based movies and TV shows,  Amulet, Boris Karloff: The Man Behind the Monster, a debate about Disney's planned live-action Snow White and the Seven Dwarves film, tributes to Jean-Claude Mézières and Roger Sims and much more.

Speculative fiction in general:

• James Davis Nicoll shares five science fiction books that use wormholes to fix plot holes. 
• James Davis Nicoll also muses how humans might be beat other lifeforms in a science fictional space race. 
• James Davis Nicoll shares five science fiction stories featuring selective breeding.
  
• Natalie Zutter shares twelve SFF tales told from a second person POV. 
• Eli Horowitz complains about science fiction's empty techno optimism. 
• Meg Long shares five YA SFF survival novels. 
• Theresa DeLucci shares six SFF novels for fans of Yellowjackets.
  
• Olav Rokne explains why 1973 was the most important year in the history of science fiction. 
• Malorie Blackman talks about the curious feeling of seeing her science fiction novel become science fact. 
• Adrian Cole talks about writing historical fantasy set in the Roman Empire.
  
• Bradley K. McDevitt profiles Edgar Allan Poe.
  
• James Maliszewski profiles Abraham Merritt. 
• Brian Kunde profiles Clifford Ball.
  
• Ngo Vinh-Hoi profiles John Bellairs.
  
• Deuce Richardson discusses some internal inconsistencies in Robert E. Howard's work. 
• Howard Andrew Jones shares the best Conan pastiche novels. 
• Molly Templeton explains how she tracks her reading.
  
• A.E. Marling reports about Solarpunk Magazine's link to cryptocurrencies.
• Alison Flood reports that A Life With Footnotes, an official biography of Terry Pratchett by Rob Wilkins, will be published in September. 
• Alison Flood reports that a new price and poverty index in the UK, tracking the rise of prices of food staples, will be named the "Vimes Boot" index, after Terry Pratchett's character Sam Vimes.
  
• Science fiction fan and former Worldcon chair Roger Sims has died aged 91.
• Rich Lynch remembers Roger Sims.
  

 

Comics and Art:

• Eric Diaz reports about the impending "death" of the Justice League. 
• Justin Carter reports that Steve Rogers and Sam Wilson are now both Captain America. 
• Brad Hawley reviews Resident Alien Vol. 2: The Suicide Blonde by Peter Hogan and Steve Parkhouse
• Rosie Knight interviews Garth Ennis about his comic adaptation of the 1980 sword and sorcery movie Hawk the Slayer. 
• Michael Gonzeles shares his appreciation for the crime and noir comics of Marshall Rogers. 
• Corner Shop Time Stop revisits the 1960 science fiction anthology comic In Orbit.
  
• James Whitbrook revisits the 1987 Solo Avengers comic “Tower of Shadows,” by Tom DeFalco, Mark Bright, Josef Rubinstein, Ken Feduniewicz and Jack Morelli. 
• Bill Ward revisits the covers of Marvel's Savage Sword of Conan comic magazine.
  
• Heavy Metal Magazine revisits the 1921 illustrations of Breton legends by Maurice De Becque.
• Doug Ellis takes a look at some illustrated Japanese editions of Dwellers in the Mirage by A. Merritt. 
• The Avocado takes a look at the many covers Isaac Asimov's Foundation trilogy has had over the years. 
• Chris Boyette reports that a school board in McMinn County, Tennessee, has voted to remove Art Spiegelman's graphic novel Maus from the curriculum because it contains nudity and swearing. Genocide is apparently okay.
  
• Rob Bricken reports that IDW has lost the licence for the Transformers and G.I. Joe comics. 
• French comic creator Jean-Claude Mézières, best known for Valerian and Laureline, has died aged 83. 
• Strip Speciaal Zaak remembers Jean-Claude Mézières (in Flemish).
  

 

Film and TV:

• C.T. Phipps shares his thoughts on season 2 of The Witcher. 
• Talking Pulp shares their thoughts on the animated The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf. 
• Fraser Sherman shares his thoughts on the James Bond film No Time To Die. 
• Arielle Bernstein declares that season 2 of Raised by Wolves understands its android characters better than the humans.
  
• Sean Dowie calls Colossal a singular, underappreciated gem.
  
• Benjamin Lee calls You Won't Be Alone a spellbinding tale of a body-switching witch from Macedonia. 
  
• Cheryl Eddy declares that the horror film Speak No Evil will make you scream and squirm.
  
• Paul Levinson calls The God Committee a science fiction movie that is now science fact. 
• Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on the post-apocalyptic movie The Colony. 
• Germain Lussier shares his thoughts on the science fiction film Dual.
  
• Peter Bradshaw calls Sing 2 an animated sequel without heart and soul. 
• Keith R.A. DeCandido, who wrote several Buffy and Firefly tie-in novels, weighs in on Joss Whedon's fall from grace. 
• Tim Lewis interviews Caitríona Balfe, star of Outlander and Belfast.  
• Phil Hoad interviews Kevin Lee, an English actor best known for playing western villains in Chinese movies. 
• Abbey White interviews Keke Palmer, star of the time travel movie Alice.
  
• Bob Brinkman takes a look at film adaptations of Robert E. Howard's stories.
  
• Lawrence Ellsworth takes a look at the sword and sorcery film boom of the early 1980s. 
• Camestros Felapton revisits the 2002 Firefly episode "Out of Gas".
  
• Thomas West shares the ten most nonsensical world domination plans in movie history.
  
• Cheryl Eddy lists the ten silliest depictions of the moon in SFF films. 
• Justin Carter discusses the musical scores and motifs of SFF films and TV shows.
  
• Molly Templeton reports that God and the Devil are unlikely to appear in season 2 of Good Omens.
  
• David Barnett reports that the crypto group who bought the pitch book for Alejandro Jodorowsky's never made adaptation of Dune want to make an animated adaptation - without actually having bought the rights to adapt Dune. 
  
• Mark Lawson wonder how to save the BBC now that the UK government wants to abolish the licence fee.
  
• Architect Ricardo Bofill, whose buildings have appeared in many SFF films, has died aged 82.
• Singer and actor Meat Loaf, best remembered for his roles in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Fight Club, Wayne's World and many others, has died aged 74.

 

Comments on the Marvel Cinematic Universe in general (spoilers):

• Cheryl Morgan shares her thoughts on Hawkeye.
• Ben Child discusses why superhero multiverses are a totally bonkers idea.
• Nadia Khomami profiles Tom Holland who plays Peter Parker a.k.a. Spider-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
• Pamela McClintock reports that Spider-Man: No Way Home is now the sixth highest grossing movie of all time.
  

 

Comments on The Book of Boba Fett and Star Wars in general: 

• Emmet Asher-Perrin shares their thoughts on "The Return of the Mandalorian", the latest episode of The Book of Boba Fett. 
• Nick Wanserski shares his thoughts about "The Return of the Mandalorian". 
• James Whitbrook shares his thoughts about "The Return of the Mandalorian". 
• Gavia Baker-Whitelaw shares her thoughts on "The Return of the Mandalorian".
  
• Cora Buhlert shares her thoughts on The Book of Boba Fett episodes "The Streets of Mos Espa" and "The Gathering Storm".
• Rob Bricken notes that the portrayal of the Tuskens in The Book of Boba Fett and The Mandalorian makes their portrayal in the Star Wars movies, particularly Attack of the Clones even more problematic.
• Germain Lussier discusses a hilarious cameo in The Book of Boba Fett.
• Germain Lussier revisits the Star Wars Special Editions for their 25th anniversary.
  

 

Comments on the many iterations of Star Trek: 

• Galactic Journey share their thoughts on the 1967 Star Trek episode "Arena".
  
• Keith R.A. DeCandido revisits the Star Trek Enterprise episode "Fortunate Son". 
• James Whitbrook discusses the Star Trek lore behind the upcoming time travel adventure in Star Trek Picard.
• Vanessa Armstrong reports that Star Trek Picard will be ending after season 3.
  

 

Comments on Doctor Who past, present and future:

• James Whitbrook reports about a bizarre rumour regarding the identity of the upcoming Fourteenth Doctor.
• David Craig reports that the animated recreations of lost Doctor Who episodes have been cancelled. 

 

Comments on Nightmare Alley: 

• Peter Bradshaw calls Nightmare Alley a class act.
  
• Ryan Gilbey interviews Guillermo Del Toro, director of Nightmare Alley.
  
• Ryan Gilbey interviews David Strathairn, one of the stars of Nightmare Alley.
• Watch director Guillermo Del Toro and star Bradley Cooper break down a scene from Nightmare Alley.
  
• Christian Zilko reports that Guillermo Del Toro, director of Nightmare Alley, hasn't used a real gun on set since 2007.

 

Comments on the various DC Comics based movies and TV-shows:

• Cheryl Morgan shares her thoughts on season 7 of Supergirl. 
• Jarrod Jones shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Legends of Tomorrow.
  
• Rob Bricken shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Superman and Lois. 
• Jarrod Jones shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Peacemaker.
  
• Leah Schnelbach analyses Selina Kyle's apartment in Batman Returns. 
• Johnny Davis interviews Matt Reeves, director of The Batman.
  
• B.J. Colangelo interviews Charissa-Lee Barton, the choreographer who created the dance sequence for the Peacemaker opening credits.
  
• Libby Brooks reports that the upcoming Batgirl movie is shooting in Scotland with Glasgow standing in for Gotham City.
  

 

Comments on The Legend of Vox Machina:

• Kevin Johnson calls The Legend of Vox Machina an entertaining animated series based on a Dungeons & Dragons campaign that set a Kickstarter record.
• Justin Carter declares that The Legend of Vox Machina is of to a strong debut.
  

 

Comments on The King's Daughter:

• Stuart Heritage calls The King's Daughter a bizarre movie about Pierce Brosnan trying to stab a mermaid to achieve immortality.  
• Gavia Baker-Whitelaw calls The King's Daughter a puzzling historical fantasy featuring Pierce Brosnan as Louis XIV of France and a mermaid. 
• Charles Bramesco calls The King's Daughter a dopey fantasy that finally finds its way into theatres eight years after it was shot. 
• Kurt Loder points out that The King's Daughter is an adaptation of Vonda McIntyre's 1996 fantasy novel The Moon and the Sun, which does not make it a better film.

 

Comments on Amulet:

• Peter Bradshaw calls Amulet a smart, upscale horror film.
• Zoe Williams interviews Romola Garai, director of the horror movie Amulet.

 

Comments on Boris Karloff: The Man Behind the Monster: 

• Leslie Felperin calls the documnetary Boris Karloff: The Man Behind the Monster a rich look at a remarkable career.
• Cheryl Eddy shares her thoughts on the documentary Boris Karloff: The Man Behind the Monster. 
  

 

The Debate about Disney's live-action Snow White and the Seven Dwarves:

• Catherine Shoard reports that actor Peter Dinklage has criticised Disney's planned Snow White remake for claiming to be inclusive by casting a Latina actress as Snow White, while still keeping the dwarves problematic stereotypes. 
• Kiruna Stamell declares that Peter Dinklage is right and that a live action Snow White and the Seven Dwarves would be a terrible idea.

 

Awards:

• The longlist for the 2021 BSFA Awards has been announced. 
• The winner of the 2022 Robert A. Heinlein Award has been announced.
  
• The winners of the 24th Annual Critters Readers' Poll have been announced. 
• The winners of the 2022 ALA Youth Media Awards have been announced.
  
• The winners of the 2022 Walter Dean Myers Awards have been announced.
• The winner of the 2022 Sophie Brody Medal has been announced. 
• The finalists for the 2022 BBC Audio Drama Awards have been announced. 
• The nominations for the 2022 Directors Guild of America Awards have been announced.
• The nominations for the 2022 Producers Guild of America have been announced.
  
• The winners of the 2021 Dream Foundry Art Contest has been announced.
  
• Doug Jones has won the inaugural The Chair Award, handed out by the Make-Up Artists and Hair Stylists Guild.
  
• Nominations are open for the 2022 Dragon Awards.
• The 2021 Asimov's Readers' Award is open for voting.
• The 2021 Analytical Laboratory Awards, Analog's annual readers' poll, is open for voting.
• The 2021 Clarkesworld Reader's Poll is open for voting.
• The Chesley Award has a new design.
  

 

Writing, publishing and promotion:

• Mikaella Clemets interviews various authors about their writing process and whether they see scenes or images in their mind. 
• Lincoln Michel explains why you need to read fiction to write fiction.
• William L. Hahn talks about writer's block.
• Joanna Schaffhausen talks about writing series that will have readers coming back for more.
• Juneau Black explains how to create non-human characters with plenty of personality.
• Kristine Kathryn Rusch shares an overview over new and old tools to help indie publishers.
• Jim Milliot shares some statistics on the state of the book trade in the US.
  

Interviews:

• Scott Edelman interviews Usman T. Malik. 
• Rita Auerbach interviews Susan Cooper. 
• Reddit interviews Gideon Marcus. 
• Runalong the Shelves interviews C.A. Yates.
  
• Dwyer Murphy interviews John Darnielle. 
  
• Cat Luria interviews Leanne Howard. 
• Christie Yant interviews Corey Flintoff. 
• Gordon B. White interviews Eric LaRocca.
  
• Locus interviews Rich Horton.
  
• Goodman Games interviews Harley Stroh.
• Cora Buhlert interviews Kerstan Szczepanski.

Reviews:

• Liz Bourke reviews Seven Mercies by Laura Lam and Elizabeth May.
  
• Aaron Jones reviews Blackcoat by Steve McHugh. 
• Thomas Parker reviews Piranesi by Susanna Clarke.
  
• Paul Weimer reviews Base Notes by Lara Elena Donnelly. 
• Angela Gualteri reviews Comeuppance Served Cold by Marion Deeds.
  
• James Davis Nicoll reviews Kundo Wakes Up by Saad Z. Hossain. 
• Mahvesh Murad reviews Akata Woman by Nnedi Okorafor.  
• Randy Money revisits The Angel of the Crows by Katherine Addison.
  
• Fabienne Schwizer reviews Temple of No God by H.M. Long. 
• Ryan Howse reviews The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher.
  
• A.M. Justice reviews Empire of Shadows by Alicia Wanstall-Burke. 
• Natalie Luhrs reviews A Country of Ghosts by Margaret Killjoy.
  
• Bill Capossere reviews Age of Ash by Daniel Abraham.
  
• Runalong the Shelves reviews The Last Legacy by Adrienne Young.  
  
• Runalong the Shelves reviews Outcast by Louise Carey. 
• Aaron Jones reviews The Free Bastards by Jonathan French. 
• The Unseen Library reviews The Bladed Faith by David Dalglish.
  
• Cheryl Morgan reviews Beyond the Hallowed Sky by Ken MacLeod. 
• Gary K. Wolfe reviews The Horizon by Gautam Bhatia
  
• Hephzibah Anderson reviews How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu
• Colleen Mondor reviews We Light Up the Sky by Lilliam Rivera.
  
• Gabino Iglesias reviews The Death of Jane Lawrence by Caitlin Starling.
  
• Colleen Mondor reviews Lies My Memory Told Me by Sacha Wunsch.
• Adrienne Martini reviews Termination Shock by Neal Stephenson.
  
• Caren Gussoff Sumption reviews The Perishing by Natashia Deón.
• Ian Mond reviews How to Get to Apocalypse and Other Disasters by Erica L. Satifka
• Arley Sorg reviews Trouble the Waters, edited by Sheree Renée Thomas, Pan Morigan, and Troy L. Wiggins.

 
Classics reviews:

• C.L. Werner revisits the 1898 ghost story "No Man's Land" by John Buchan. 
• Sandy Ferber revisits the 1925 werewolf novel Invaders From the Dark by Greye La Spina.
  
• Steven H. Silver revisits the 1928 science fiction story The Yeast Men by David H. Keller. 
  
• Every Day Should Be Tuesday revisits the 1930 Barsoom novel A Fighting Man of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs.
  
• Deuce Richardson revisits the 1932 dark fantasy novel Dwellers in the Mirage by A. Merritt.
  
• James Maliszewski revisits the 1933 dark fantasy story "The Maze of the Enchanter" by Clark Ashton Smith. 
• Glen Usher revisits the 1936 supernatural thriller "Black Wind Blowing" by Robert E. Howard. 
• Matt Mikalatos revisits the 1943 religious science fiction novel Perelandra by C.S. Lewis.
  
• Vintage Pop Fictions revisits the 1953 science fiction novel The Time Armada by Fox B. Holden.
  
• Nasim Mansuri revisits the 1954 children's fantasy novel The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis. 
• Joachim Boaz revisits the 1955 science fiction story "The Hoofer" by Walter M. Miller Jr.
  
• Bobby Derie revisits the 1958 cosmic horror story “Celui qui suscitait l’effroi…” by Jacques Janus a.k.a. Jacques Bergier and Louis Pauwels.
• Joachim Boaz revisits the 1963 science fiction story "Good Night, Sophie" by Lino Aldani.
  
• Cora Buhlert revisits the 1966 sword and sorcery collection Conan the Adventurer by Robert E. Howard. 
• Mark Yon revisits the February 1967 issue of SF Impulse.
  
• Bill Ward revisits the 1969 fantasy novel The Face in the Frost by John Bellairs. 
• Paperback Warrior revisits the 1971 science fiction novel Dark Planet by John Rackham. 
• James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1975 science fiction anthology Orbit 17, edited by Damon Knight.
• James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1976 anthology Science Fiction Discoveries, edited by Carol and Frederik Pohl.
• Talking Pulp revisits the 1976 Elric sword and sorcery novel The Sailor On the Seas of Fate by Michael Moorcock. 
• Alissa Burger revisits the 1985 teen horror novel Slumber Party by Christopher Pike and the 1992 teen horror novel The Window by Carol Ellis.
• Every Day Should Be Tuesday revisits the 1986 Conan pastiche Conan the Valorous by John Maddox Roberts.
• Seanan McGuire revisits the 1991 fantasy novel Tam Lin by Pamela Dean.
• Steven Erikson revisits the 1995 fantasy novel Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb.
  

 

Crowdfunding:

• By the Blade, a hardcover fantasy art book by Daniel Bereton, is looking for funding.
• The RPG module Rancid Canyons of the Floating Death Sheep is looking for funding.
  

 

Con and event reports:

• Cheryl Morgan reports about DisCon III, the 2021 Worldcon in Washington DC. 
• Michael Dirda reports about DisCon III.
• Morgan Hazelwood reports about the DisCon III panel "Finding the Authorial Voice".
• David Mack explains why he withdrew from Farpoint Con in Hunt Valley, Maryland. 
• Keith R.A. DeCandido also withdraws from Farpoint Con. 
• David Mack also withdraw from MidSouthCon in Memphis, Tennessee, because they are legally not allowed to require proof of covid vaccination. 
• Mike Glyer reports that two other guests have cancelled their appearances at MidSouthCon as well.
  
• Mike Glyer reports about the 2022 Vintage Paperback Collectors Show and Sale in Glendale, California. 
• Camestros Felapton shares a call to keep the arms trade out of fandom and conventions.
  
• Rebecca Rego Barry reports about the exhibition Sherlock Holmes in 221 Objects at the Grolier Club in New York City.
• Associated Press reports that James Snyder, the actor playing Harry Potter in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child on Broadway, has been fired following complaints by a fellow actress.
  

 

Science and technology:

• Marcia Dunn reports that the James Webb Space Telescope has reached its final position.
  
• Mike Wall reports that NASA's Curiosity rover has found tantalising signs of ancient life on Mars.
• Samantha Lock reports that an erratic SpaceX rocket is on collision course with the Moon.
• Rhett Allain wonders what happens when a space elevator breaks.
• Dave Eggers muses about jetpacks. 
• Minami Funakoshi discusses how languages handle gender and especially non-binary gender.
  
• Associated Press reports that a truck carrying one hundred monkey to a lab has crashed near Danville, Pennsylvania, and that several of the monkeys have gone missing. 
• Steven Morris reports that a dog stranded in the mud flats off the Hampshire coast has been rescued via luring him to safety with a sausage attached to a drone.
  
• The BBC reports that a robotic vaccuum cleaner has escpaed from a hotel in Cambridge and was returned unhamred a few years later.
  

Free online fiction:

• "The Lending Library of Final Lines" by Octavia Cade in The Dark. 
• "Learning to Hate Yourself as a Self-Defense Mechanism" by Andrea Kriz in Clarkesworld
• "For Whom the Psychopomp Calls" by Filip Hajdar Drnovšek Zorko in Clarkesworld. 
• "What Una Loves" by Rich Larson in Apex Magazine.
  
• "The Carnival Job" by Mark Finn in Heroic Fantasy Quarterly. 
• "The Tale of Ak and Humanity" by Yefim Zozulya at Tor.com. 
• "Cale and Stardust Battle the Mud Gobblers of Hudson Valley" by Lincoln Michel in Lightspeed.
• "Give Me Cornbread or Give Me Death" by N.K. Jemisin in Lightspeed. 
• "New Meat (TM)" by Jordan Shiveley in Nightmare Magazine.
  
• "Free Coffin" by Corey Flintoff in Fantasy Magazine.
  
• "Omen" by Katrina Carruth in Luna Station Quarterly. 
• "Voyagings" by Jeané D. Riches in Anathema.
• "Chance" by Jordan Legg in Starward Shadows.
• "God 47" by Laila Amado in Daily Science Fiction.
• "Counterparts" by Andrew Hansen in Daily Science Fiction.
• "Teleportitus" by Mark S. Bailen in Daily Science Fiction.
• "Turning the Tide" by Dawn Vogel in Daily Science Fiction.
• "The Streets Where We Live" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.
  

 

Trailers and videos:

• Watch a trailer for Hellbender. 
• Watch a trailer for Uncharted.
• Watch a trailer for Guillermo Del Toro's take on Pinocchio.